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They are one of the most hated types of traffic calming measures, among drivers responsible for bad backs and bust suspension, but now a solution may have been found which will please motorists and pedestrians: the virtual speed bump.

The initiative relies on a three dimensional image painted on the road to create an optical illusion that fools drivers into slowing down in anticipation of hitting the bump. It is being trialled in India and an image of one was Tweeted yesterday by the country's minister for roads, Nitin Gadkari.

We are trying out 3D paintings used as virtual speed breakers to avoid unnecessary requirements of speed breakers pic.twitter.com/M5r6zkO6uU

While the main idea behind the initiative is to slow drivers down and maintain the safety of pedestrians, authorities say the installation and maintenance of virtual speed humps is much cheaper than the physical counterpart, saving money too.

Raghav Chandra, chairman for the national highways authority of India, is quoted as saying: “We will test it out in a couple of highways at one or two points. If it doesn’t cause any problem of road safety, we can experiment with it further.”

This isn't the first time engineers have used the illusion. In 2008 fake speed humps were installed at 100 junctions around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of a campaign against aggressive driving.

"The goal is to change the mindset," said Philadelphia’s chief traffic engineer at the time.

"The driver sees this in the roadway, and they think that it’s some protrusion up out of the roadway, and not a perfectly flat surface. So they slow down before they drive over it."

The scheme had limited success however: once drivers had been fooled once they tended not to slow down in the future.

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